I promised you that this blog would include the occasional non-language related post. So here’s a piece on Korean beauty products – a strong passion of mine ^^

When I was in Seoul I was struck by how many cosmetics stores they had lined up along all the major shopping streets in central Seoul, Gangnam, and well… everywhere. (Myeongdong is a separate story, and really deserves a separate post.)

Everywhere you’d see Nature Republic, Tony Moly, Skinfood, Etude House, Too Cool for Scool, Missha, Innisfree, and The Face Shop. As a passionate beauty and skin care enthusiast you can imagine my delight – and my husband’s less than succesful attempt to convince me that I didn’t need to go into each an every one of the shops, let alone buy something in each of them… I was in makeup and skincare heaven! ^^

When paying the excess baggage fee at the check-in counter at Incheon airport (not all due to beauty haul – stumbled across – and bought – a fewpieces lot of gorgeous Korean fashion clothing) I honestly thought that I’d hauled enough Korean beauty goodies to last me until my next Seoul trip (about a year from now). Alas, I realize now – two months after coming back – that I’ve used up almost half of my Korean beauty stash already.

I love starting my day pampering myself with a good facial cleanser, toner, and BB cream. I cannot believe that I used to wear Western style foundations! They would always cake up, but with BB cream my skin stays pretty much flawless throughout the day. My favorite BB cream at the moment is the pink one from Skin79. Hauled a 4-pack from their flagship store in Myeongdong. ^^

Also, a few nights a week I treat myself to a relaxing sheet mask, and I seriously feel that after regular use my skin looks younger, brighter, and softer… Ahhh!

I never thought that I’d embrace beauty products containing “snail extract”, “volcanic soil from Jeju island”, “ginseng”, or “soybean” but I’m loving it, and so is my skin. If you’re new to Korean skin care I highly recommend that you give it a try.

To be sure I won’t run out I just placed a (substantial) order for sheet masks, toners, scrubs, and moisturizers with yesstyle.com ^^

I’ll be sure to post a pic of my haul when it arrives!

Tip: Practise your Korean reading skills by reading the instructions on the back in 한글, they oftentimes make more sense than the English translations.

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I'm a Danish girl living in Korea teaching economics at Sogang economics. When I'm not working I love to learn Korean, discover this beautiful country, read and blog about my experiences and thoughts. Follow me at www.sofietokorea.com :)